The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thiem out of French Open with 10th consecutive defeat
It all used to come so easily for Dominic Thiem on a tennis court: his powerful forehand, his elegant backhand, his hit-which-shot-when calculations, all fine-tuned to the point of a title at the U.S. Open and three other Grand Slam final appearances, including two at Roland Garros.
Nowadays, even though the pain from last year’s torn tendon in his right wrist is no longer there, the strokes and, most disconcertingly, the wherewithal, are not what they once were, to the extent that his first-round exit at the French Open on Sunday was his 10th consecutive loss. The situation has become dire enough that Thiem, a 28-yearold Austrian once ranked No. 3 but now No. 194, acknowledged after being beaten 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 by Hugo Dellien that perhaps it’s time for him to head to the lower-level Challenger Tour to get a win and gain some confidence.
After lamenting his forehand, his backhand and a too-low firstserve percentage, Thiem got to the bigger issue: “Sometimes, I do really stupid decisions during the rally, drop shots or down-theline (ground strokes) at the wrong moment. (In) match situations, I’m not playing well.”
Rising star Carlos Alcaraz scored a quick first-round victory. The 19-year-old from Spain never faced a break point while beating Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 in less than two hours.
Thiem’s quick departure was not the only noteworthy development on Day One at the year’s second major. Given Thiem’s troubles — sure, he was the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in Paris in 2018 and 2019, and to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in 2020, but his last victory came in May 2021 — there were other results that probably were more surprising. Chiefly in that category would be No. 6 seed Ons Jabeur’s 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 loss to 56th-ranked Magda Linette of Poland. Jabeur, a Tunisian who is the first Arab woman to win a WTA title and first to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal, acknowledged: “I was expecting myself to go far in this tournament.”
Jabeur began the day with a tour-leading 17 wins on clay this season, including taking the title at the Madrid Open and reaching the final of the Italian Open.
Another top-10 women’s seed — and the 2016 champion at the place — was sent home when Garbiñe Muguruza lost 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to 46th-ranked Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. Muguruza beat Serena Williams in the final at Roland Garros six years ago and Venus Williams in the final at Wimbledon in 2017, but she now has lost her opening match in Paris two straight years.
Avoiding that sort of result was the men’s No. 9 seed, Felix Auger-aliassime, who won after dropping the opening two sets. The Canadian came back to eliminate Juan Pablo Varillas 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. Other winners included Sloane Stephens, Jil Teichmann and Sorana Cirstea (women); and Grigor Dimitrov, John Isner and Botic Van de Zandschulp (men). Former Atlanta resident Coco Gauff won 7-5, 6-0 over Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino.